The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy

• Foster a climate of critical thinking and the courage to engage with the evolving nature of psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, systemic and other mental health theories and clinical practice.
• Develop new cutting-edge training programs that adapt to the evolving needs of our diverse community.
• Maintain an ever-present focus on accessibility, efficiency and adaptability.

• Best Practices for Patient Care: Commitment to a learning environment that prepares therapists to integrate and implement evolving understanding of good clinical practice.
• Providing evidence-based and culturally sensitive mental health care that meets the highest standards of patient well-being.
• Maintaining focus and continuously improving accessibility to care including commitment to sliding scale fees.

• Trust: Foster an environment of trust and confidentiality, where all individuals feel safe to share and receive support.
• Transparency: Openly communicate policies, decisions, and initiatives to ensure clarity and understanding among our community on a consistent basis.
• Communication: Encouraging open dialogue and active listening to promote understanding and collaboration among diverse perspectives.
• Respect: Value and respect the unique identities, experiences, and cultures of all individuals, promoting a sense of belonging.
• Collegiality: Foster social and professional connections and a meaningful community of colleagues.

• Examine the existing power system: Actively working to identify and address systemic biases, inequalities, and privileges, including those stemming from white privilege.
• Address Past and Ongoing Harm: Acknowledging historical injustices and actively addressing any harm caused by our organization, while working to prevent further harm.
• Ongoing Actionable DEI Initiatives: Continuously implement meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that drive positive change.
• Examine and address issues around conduct and ethics implementing a code of ethics and conduct and procedures for addressing violations and complaints.
• Foster, encourage and support the development and orderly succession of new leadership both within ICP and in the mental health community generally.
• Foster a climate of critical thinking and the courage to engage with the evolving nature of mental health theory and clinical practice
• Address both local and global crises when our expertise as healers is needed.

• Financial Restructuring: Invest in financial expertise to guide ICP, ensuring equitable distribution of resources to bolster DEI initiatives, increase access to high-quality care, and provide fair and competitive compensation.
• Development, Fundraising and Public Relations to secure the future of ICP. Develop ongoing and consistent strategies in collaboration with stakeholders and the community to proactively raise funds and resources that support our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in mental health, ensuring accessible and high-quality training and care for all individuals.
• Demonstrate ongoing commitment to operational Excellence (policy, process, standards, finance).

This DEI statement was developed through a collaborative process involving focus groups, open forums, and feedback from across our community, including candidates, graduates, faculty supervisors, alumni, and our management team. Led by Monroe France, our board’s DEI expert, this statement reflects the input and commitment of our community as we strive for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion at ICP. ICP will hold forums periodically each year to provide space for sharing progress, updates, new initiatives and ideas and voicing concerns.

At The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy (ICP), we are deeply committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and diverse environment. Situated in the heart of New York City, a vibrant and diverse metropolis, we recognize the importance of reflecting this diversity within our clinical community. Our dedication to DEI is not only a conceptual commitment but one that is actively operationalized through concrete actions to ensure a supportive and inclusive atmosphere for all.

Our Commitment:
The following commitments represent a mix of initiatives that are currently in progress, actions we are actively working on, and goals to which we aspire.

Leadership and Governance:

• Ensuring strong leadership commitment to promote an inclusive environment.
• Reimagining board involvement to include diverse nominees, fostering varied perspectives and experiences.
• Progress: We have recently diversified our board with the addition of new members from various backgrounds. We endeavor to add more board members in the next two years.
• Acknowledging past shortcomings and committing to inclusivity and continuous improvement.
• Regularly reviewing and improving policies, processes, and practices as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.
  Timeframe: Policies will be reviewed biannually for relevancy and effectiveness.
• Openly communicating policies, decisions, and initiatives to promote transparency and clarity within our community.
  Commitment: We will the update the community on policy updates and new initiatives and offer opportunity to provide feedback.

Education and Representation:

• Offering ongoing clinical education programs that address the needs of the BIPOC community, including issues of racial tension, microaggressions, and diversity.
  Commitment: We aim to offer at least two programs per academic year and are developing a new DEI series to further these efforts.
• Increasing the diversity of candidates, faculty, and supervisors of color, and enhancing diverse leadership within our institute.
  Goal: We endeavor to increase BIPOC representation among faculty and supervisors.
• Providing racial equity scholarships and financial assistance to increase diversity and accessibility in our training programs.
  Progress: We have awarded five scholarships this year and aim to continue our racial equity scholarship program yearly.
• Providing ongoing DEI workshops and coaching to support our community and relieve the burden on victims of discrimination.
  Commitment: DEI workshops will be scheduled annually with additional coaching sessions as needed.

Support and Accessibility:

• Actively developing a strategic plan to secure funds for education and treatment accessibility.
  Timeframe: A financial task force and development advisory committee is being established to help ICP increase funding.
• Establishing a clear grievance process with a dedicated committee to address harms, mistreatment or discomfort, ensuring all voices are heard, that fosters a safe space without fear of retaliation.
  Commitment: We will launch a new grievance process and committee by the end of 2024 to promote a safe space for all.
  
• Creating support networks for the various cohorts within our community to foster inclusion and belonging.
  Goal: Establish affinity or support groups tailored to different community needs, as requested.

Community Engagement and Accountability:

• Utilizing ICP’s space for free or low-cost community services to support local communities and foster diversity.
  Commitment: We will offer at least one community service event per academic year.
• Developing methods for quantifying and tracking progress in diversification efforts, such as measuring the diversity of faculty and experiences within our community.
  Goal: We aim to produce an annual report that will track and share our progress on diversification.

By continuously evaluating and enhancing our DEI initiatives, we strive to create a just, supportive, and transformative community for all.

• 1975 – Low-cost therapy for financially struggling college students⁣⁣
• 1976 – A multi-disciplinary child and adolescent therapy program
• 1979 – The first outpatient eating disorders program in the city⁣⁣
• 1982 – One of the city’s first family and couple treatment programs in an analytic institute⁣⁣
• 1982 – One of the city’s first support groups for HIV patients⁣⁣
• 1985 – A psychotherapy program designed specifically to address the psychological needs of artists
• 1997 – An innovative program pioneering affirmative psychotherapy for the LGBTIA+ population⁣⁣
• 2006 – After organizing one of the city’s largest post-9/11 counseling interventions, a new program for the treatment and study of trauma⁣⁣
• 2008 – Clinical conferences, ongoing education and treatment for the transgender community, including psychological evaluations for gender affirming surgery⁣⁣
• 2010 – A multi-year collaboration with CUNY's Hunter College to de-stigmatize mental health issues in college students
• 2017 – A sex therapy collaborative (STC) to provide clinical training in the practice of non-binary, inclusive sex therapy
• 2018 – A collaboration with Columbia University on the treatment of pervasive grief disorders
• 2018 – A 2-year sex therapy certificate program, providing the first sliding-scale sex therapy option available in New York City
• 2020 – Began offering scholarships specifically for the BIPOC community. Most training divisions now offer at least one BIPOC scholarship each academic year.

ICP was one of the first NYC institutes to offer a low-cost college psychotherapy service, low-cost treatment for artists, low-cost therapy for trauma, and one of the first to fully integrate a family and couple therapy program into an analytic setting.

In the nineties, ICP initiated one of the country’s first gay and lesbian psychotherapy programs. In the immediate aftermath of September 11th, ICP trained and supervised over 75 therapists to provide crisis counseling. As a result, the Institute began a dedicated trauma studies program. In the past decade, continuing its tradition of innovation, ICP initiated psychological services or clinical education addressing the unique needs of 21st century young adults, including complex bereavement, multi-cultural issues, psychotherapy for older adults, and services for transgender individuals seeking gender-affirming surgery.

The Institute has continued to grow and evolve. ICP currently provides 650-700 hours of therapy and has 300 clinical team members, which include therapists, supervisors, trainees, and faculty members.

During the past 40+ years, we have treated over 35,000 patients.

For the first 25 years, ICP was completely self-sufficient, without benefit, endowments, or outside contributions. Our extraordinary growth was built by relying on our excellent word-of-mouth reputation.

As the community’s needs have grown and incomes have decreased, ICP has responded by seeking outside funds and starting new innovative programs. To date, our funding efforts have resulted in significant contributions from:

• New York Community Trust-multiple grants
• Henry van Ameringen; Annual grant for our PCGS Services
• The Rapoport Foundation
• New York State
• United Way
• Marsh & McLennan Companies
• The Stonewall Foundation

In addition to providing comprehensive psychotherapeutic services, the Institute operates a renowned graduate training program for mental health professionals. ICP’s dual mission of training and treatment on a large scale with multiple areas of expertise and clinical approaches is almost unparalleled in the tri-state area. Six of our treatment divisions have corresponding certificate training programs with various approaches for master level graduates. This comprehensive treatment and training model has been a leader in the field, unique among a handful of NYC psychoanalytic institutes.

At ICP, our mission is to keep adapting our approach to fit patient needs as they evolve in an expanding society. This is demonstrated in the Institute’s commitment to cross-fertilization and training opportunities between its programs. Collaboration among faculty, trainees, and therapists enables the Institute to continually refine its approaches to reflect the emerging needs of patients and the community, all provided by faculty and staff that virtually donate their time and expertise.